Which language is most “important”?
To determine which language is the most “important” globally, we first must define the term “important”. Does it mean the language spoken by the most people, or the language spoken in the most countries, or the language of the most economically-developed nation, or…? MIT Assistant Professor César Hidalgo and his team have come up with […]
Bad translations are not always a laughing matter
A professional translator is far more than someone who speaks a couple of languages; a professional translator not only has native-level skills in both languages; he or she will consider both the terminology and register of the message to be interpreted (the text), and also the target audience to which it is directed. Errors in […]
A guide to understanding translation costs
In today’s globalized world, accessing translation services can be as easy as googling “translations” and taking your pick from the myriad of options appearing on your screen. You’ll find translation agencies and freelance translators all ready to undertake your translation project…for a price. Some lower-end agencies charge a flat-rate per-word fee for a particular language. […]
Croqueta, azotea and coco: Some lunfardo words for head
Lunfardo is a rich and often slyly humorous dialect, and nowhere is its imaginative use of language more evident than with the plethora of words it has for “head” (cabeza in standard Spanish). As can be expected, many of these terms are related to its shape: coco – coconut mate – the hollowed-out gourd used […]
Bilingual drug labels: Can you trust them?
In recent years, laws have been passed in the U.S. at the national and local levels to guarantee that Spanish speakers (and others who don’t speak English) are provided with the instructions for taking the medication in their language. The aim was to make sure that those with a low level of English proficiency were […]
New Words in the DRAE
The new 23rd edition of the Dictionary of Spanish Language of the Royal Spanish Academy (DRAE) has just been published; nearly 5,000 of its 93,111 entries are newly included words, while 1,350 previously accepted words have been eliminated from this latest edition. The new words reflect the invaluable contribution of American Spanish to the language […]
International e-commerce: When marketing in English only isn’t enough
Today, the world can be your global marketplace, thanks to e-commerce, the buying and/or selling of goods and services over the internet or via other electronic services. The proliferation of B2B (business-to-business) and C2C (consumer-to-consumer) web portals and other marketing platforms has made it possible for companies and individuals across the world to shop for, […]
Google Announces the Creation of a Translate Community
Google recently launched a Translate Community, inviting language-lover volunteers to help improve the accuracy of Google Translate services. At first sight, this seems like a win-win situation, as long-suffering Google Translate users have often voiced their frustration with the quality of the translations rendered, while Google gets free knowledge (and labor) from a virtual community […]
Effective Client Management in the Translation Industry
Running a translation project efficiently is not easy. There are many aspects that Project Managers need to take into account to ensure that clients are satisfied and that they choose their translation agency over and over again. Each project should be well understood right from the beginning in order to anticipate potential risks or problems […]
Will machines reach human levels of translation quality by the year 2029?
Will it be possible to rely on the accuracy of a machine translated document by the year 2029? Will human levels of translation quality be reached by machines and software programs? Translation and interpreting services have been traditionally considered human activities with little to almost no space for technical interventions. However, technical developments in language […]
